A foretaste of the artistic mastery of Beethoven's late work: the "Diabelli Variations" are the last major piano work to embody the pinnacle of Beethoven's variation oeuvre and are considered one of the most extensive and important compositions of this art form. Parallel to the release of the first of a total of three CD boxes with Alfredo Perl's new complete recording of all of Beethoven's piano works, the "Diabelli Variations" are available exclusively on LP.

Following his critically acclaimed recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's complete piano sonatas and the Diabelli Variations from 1992-1996, pianist and conductor Alfredo Perl is now scaling this summit of classical-romantic piano music for the second time. His concept, developed through intensive artistic and pedagogical examination, now applies to the whole"Beethoven, i. e. all the surviving original compositions for solo piano, including the works for piano four hands. The recordings, which in the case of the piano sonatas are based on the edition by Jonathan Del Mar, will be released in three CD boxes and will also be available on all relevant platforms in Dolby Atmos as well as stereo downloads. The edition is structured according to the three creative phases 1791-1800, 1801-1814 and 1816-1825, corresponding to the periods in which the main works - sonatas, variations, bagatelles and outstanding individual pieces - were composed. The last box also brings together the youthful works from the Bonn period, the dances and other individual pieces as well as the works for four hands. This not only allows the development of the piano composer Beethoven to be traced directly, but also reveals the relationships that exist with his role models and successors Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Brahms. The sonatas are accompanied by twelve important variation works (WoO 64-66, 68-73, 75-77), which are still rarely heard in the concert hall, as well as the Allegretto in C minor WoO 53, the two Rondos op. 51 and the Capriccio "alla ingharese" op. 129, which became famous under the title "Die Wut uber den verlorenen Groschen". The opening box contains the first 13 sonatas (op. 2 no. 1-3; op. 7; op. 10 no. 1-3; op. 13; op. 14 no. 1-2, op. 22 as well as the short sonatas op. 49 no. 1-2) with which Beethoven revolutionized this genre after moving to Vienna.

Few conductors of Klaus Tennstedt's generation demonstrated such complete mastery of the Classical and Romantic repertoire from Beethoven to Mahler and Strauss, coupled with an intensity in live performance that was palpable. He was among the finest German conductors to emerge after the Second World War and was in constant demand with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. Doremi's third Tennstedt volume of live concert material presents Beethoven's Eroica symphony with the Boston Symphony from Tanglewood, 1977 and Bruckner's 8th symphony with the New York Philharmonic, April 14, 1992 (this was to be Tennstedt's last guest appearance in the U.S.).

Few conductors of Klaus Tennstedt's generation demonstrated such complete mastery of the Classical and Romantic repertoire from Beethoven to Mahler and Strauss, coupled with an intensity in live performance that was palpable. He was among the finest German conductors to emerge after the Second World War and was in constant demand with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. Doremi's fourth volume of live concert material of Klaus Tennstedt features the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's fourth and fifth symphonies, Don Quixote by Richard Strauss (with cellist Lorne Monroe) and Boris Blacher's Paganini Variations; also included is the same composer's Concertante Musik with the Chicago Symphony.

PIANO 21’s first CD offers a unique opportunity to hear the first-ever recording of Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, as arranged for the piano by the composer. This version, published by Beethoven before the orchestral score, was bizarrely ignored by pianists for some two hundred years... Cyprien Katsaris lays hold of the piece in a performance that brings out its climatic versatility, deploying a whole panoply of nuance, tone and sonority. The CD also features the only piano arrangement Beethoven ever made of one of his own symphonies: the first forty-six bars of the Seventh Symphony.

Jakob Gimpel at Ambassador Auditorium, Vol. 3 (1979, 1977)

Beethoven's three most famous sonatas have received hundreds of recordings. Why another, especially from a company like Divine Art which usually avoids duplicating repertoire? Because we believe that each piece of music demands a performance tailored to the composition, and that recently, every recording of a major work seems to sound the same. Beethoven's sonatas are fiery, storm-filled works which require playing not only of consummate skill but also total passion and commitment. They receive that here, together with a piano of individual character, with a "visceral" quality (to quote Goldstone), and ideal for this music. But this CD contains two special tracks: We offer the world premiere recording of Moscheles' arrangement of the Overture to "Fidelio". And also, two alternative versions of the first movement of the "Pathetique" Sonata, one incorporating Goldstone's belief regarding the correct execution of the exposition repeat. We could not pack any more onto a disc!

At the age of 13 Beethoven was already hailed as the new Mozart and many of his early works, especially in the chamber music genre, were influenced by Mozart’s model, like the Three Quartets for Piano and Strings WoO 36, composed in 1785 and published posthumously in November 1828. These three chamber works are directly modeled on three of the six violin sonatas that Mozart published in 1781: KV 296, 379 and 380. One of young Beethoven’s patrons was Johann Gottfried Mastiaux , whose children played violin, viola, cello and the piano. Although there is no concrete evidence for it, Beethoven’s association with the Mastiaux family could have inspired him to write for such an instrumental ensemble; it is unlikely that Beethoven was yet aware of the first example of this genre, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, KV 478, which was finished only on 16 October 1785 in Vienna, thus not in time for Beethoven to have become acquainted with it in Bonn. Therefore, it is possible that WoO 36 – and not KV 478 – was in fact the first example of the piano quartet in chamber music literature. Despite these circumstances and the composer’s youth, the WoO 36 piano quartets represent an important artistic pinnacle in which the seeds of Beethoven’s genius that would proliferate during his maturity were already evident. This album features the first recording on historical instruments of the Piano Quartets WoO 36 (Bonn, 1785) played by Leonardo Miucci (historical piano), Meret Lüthi, , Sonoko Asabuki, and Alexandre Foster, .

BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

“From Beethoven’s extensive oeuvre of variations, I have selected four works ranging from the first to the last composition for solo piano for which Beethoven created variations on an original theme. Thus the wide-ranging Eroica Variations Op. 35 find their place alongside the compressed and downscaled Variations in C minor WoO 80 and the Variations in G major WoO 77 which were created as a piece of occasional music. The recording closes with Sonata Op. 111, whose second movement is one of the longest and most complex variation settings of the Viennese School and represents the homogeneous integration of the variation as a form within multi-movement works in Beethoven’s piano literature. Each of these four works possesses its own semantics and shows a Beethoven sparkling with creativity, wit, deep expressiveness and consummate mastery of forms, confronting the pianist with a multiplicity of technical, but also interpretative challenges.” (Florian Feilmair)

Beethoven began composing the Missa solemnis in 1819, when he learned that his patron (and pupil) Archduke Rudolph was going to be appointed Cardinal Archbishop of Olmütz. The plan was for the mass to be ready for performance at the enthronement celebrations in March 1820, but one year proved to be too little time. It wasn’t until almost three years later, in January 1823, that Beethoven was able to complete the work. As might be expected, it was unparalleled in every respect – although composed for use during church services, even Beethoven’s contemporaries found that it exceeded the bounds of the genre. Beethoven himself was quite aware of both the dimensions and the importance of the work: in a letter he described it as ‘my greatest work’. It is also a work which over its course encompasses great contrasts: from the solemnity of the Kyrie and the intense excitement at the opening of the Gloria to the disturbing intimations of war during the closing Dona nobis pacem.

Originally founded with the aim of performing the choral works of Bach, the Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki are now taking another great leap, after their recent release of Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor. Described as ‘refreshingly open-hearted, spontaneous and natural’ their interpretation received a 2017 Gramophone Award. Joined by an eminent quartet of vocal soloists, the team now applies its expertise in period performance to Beethoven’s masterpiece.

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,/br> REVIEWS:

The performance has warmth, energy and an exact feeling for tempo. The Japanese chorus rise fearlessly to Beethoven’s demands. A memorable musical and emotional experience.

– Sunday Times (UK)

This recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Op. 123 offers a revelatory performance that is so clear in its textures, lively in its tempos, meticulous in its execution, and detailed in its parts that this monument of western choral music seems to have shaken off all the mossy accretions of nearly two centuries. Highly recommended.

– All Music Guide

A recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ninth" is always a great event, especially because the symphony's final chorus, Schiller's "Ode to Joy", is understood around the world as a plea for peace and international understanding. It was no coincidence that the catchy melody to the text "Joy, beautiful spark of divinity" was chosen as the Hymn of the European Union. This recording of Beethoven's great choral symphony under the direction of Bernard Haitink and with excellent instrumental and vocal soloists is not only an outstanding interpretation of the work but also very much an event in itself -because these recordings document Haitink's last ever concerts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Only a few months after his two Munich concerts on February 21 and 22, 2019, the great Dutch conductor -who celebrated his 90thbirthday on March 4 -announced the end of his career.

Classical Music

In a series of 3 albums, the Beethoven Trio Bonn explores the confrontation between one of Beethoven’s standard works for piano trio with a further “house music” arrangement of one of his orchestral works. More than providing an interesting pairing, the Beethoven Trio Bonn was keen on interpreting an original work for piano trio alongside an arrangement of an orchestral work “downsized” to piano trio format. This new concept delivers surprising, unforeseen results. Composers and publishers in Beethoven’s day sought to indulge the pleasures of the middle class: dozens of arrangements and transcriptions of orchestral works were in wide circulation for domestic use. Haydn, Mozart and many others had always tried to provide access to the wonders of symphonic music for those members of the population who could not gain entrance to the grand concerts of the upper classes. Up to the 1930s, music publishers continued to commission composers to arrange and transcribe symphonies and other orchestral works, in order to make them readily available as chamber music; no composer found the task too lowly, since such work was a good source of steady income. Vol. 2 presents the young fresh Symphony No. 2 in Beethoven own trio arrangement coupled with the less known but definitely beautiful Trio No. 6. It sounds as if the Symphony was a trio in its original form, natural and favorable. Also in this arrangement, the piano carries the main load of all the orchestral voices. “BTB”, the Beethoven Trio Bonn is mastering this major challenge again and makes also this Vol. 2 to a little diamond and enjoyable CD. Thanks to BTB there is a fascinating, committed tempo and clarity, a major portion of musicality and joy in the performance.

Maestro Marek Janowski and the WDR Symphony Orchestra present Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth symphonies. Premiered during the same concert in 1808, these two symphonies present two sides of Beethoven's musical persona. Whereas the Fifth is legendary for it's drama and forward urge the "Pastoral" Sixth offers idyllic sounds, albeit shortly interrupted by a thunderstorm that resembles the tempestuous development of the Fifth. Programmed together, these two pieces constitute a fascinating portrait of Beethoven at the height of his creative powers. Marek Janowski is one of the most celebrated conductors of our times, and enjoys a vast PENTATONE discography, including complete recordings of Bruckner's symphonies and Wagner's mature operas. This is his second PENTATONE collaboration with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, one of the most established radio orchestras of Germany.